AMS in the News

Journalists call upon the AMS for information and insight on a range of topics including the mathematics profession, employment, math education, electronic publishing, meetings, applications of mathematics, and more. These selections from various media cite the AMS, quote a representative of the Society (President, Executive Director, or other officer), cover events sponsored by the AMS, or refer to some aspect of the Society's programs.

2007 Spelling Bee winner wins math competition, by Wayne Freeman
KGO-TV, 14 January 2010; and
Danville teen, national spelling bee champion, wins national math contest, by Robert Jordan
San Jose Mercury News, 15 January 2010
Evan O'Dorney was the big winner in Who Wants to Be a Mathematician at the Joint Mathematics Meetings.

O'Dorney won $5,000 for himself and $5,000 for the Berkeley Math Circle. He also won the national spelling bee as a ninth grader and has twice been on the US International Mathematical Olympiad team, earning silver medals both times. His goal is to become a math professor. His competition in the finals was Ben Zauzmer, from Pennsylvania. Ben, who earned $3000 for himself and $3000 for the math department at his high school, was very gracious after losing in the finals, "Evan did a great job and he really deserves it. He is an impressive mathematician and it was a lot of fun up there."

Lincoln East top team at Math Day; LSW's Zhou top individual
Lincoln Journal Star, 12 November 2009
It was quite a day for Albert Zhou, of Lincoln Southwest High School.

"But Lincoln Southwest's Albert Zhou also came out on top, winning an $8,000 Math Day scholarship from UNL plus $3,000 cash in a new special contest, Who Wants to be a Mathematician, sponsored by the American Mathematical Society."

Student's mad math skills add up in contest, by Thomas Celona
The Reporter, 8 November 2009
Ben Zauzmer, of Upper Dublin High School (PA), is one of ten contestants competing in the upcoming national Who Wants to Be a Mathematician.

Celona interviewed Ben about the contest. Ben said that when he found out that he had qualified, "The whole family was jumping up and down, ... I was very flattered and surprised to be chosen among those 10. It's very exciting." Regarding the contest, he added, "This is more of the fun, quick math atmosphere that I enjoy. Math is not exactly a spectator sport, but this should be the closest thing."

Russia's Conquering Zeros, by Masha Gessen
The Wall Street Journal, 6 November 2009
AMS Publisher Sergei Gelfand is quoted about mathematics in the former Soviet Union.

Gessen writes about mathematics in Russia and the Soviet Union. Gelfand says that for good mathematicians who weren't eligible to be part of the Soviet mathematical establishment, such as people unwilling to join the Communist Party, "the most they could hope for was being able to defend their doctoral dissertation at some institute in Minsk, if they could secure connections there."

Game equals fun, money for math students, by Preston Sparks
The Augusta Chronicle, 30 October 2009
Sparks writes about the 2009 Arnold Ross Lecture and Who Wants to be a Mathematician, which took place at the National Science Center's Fort Discovery.

"Andrew [Ding] gave the right answer and won the game's top prize earnings of $3,000. The game, modeled after the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, was part of the day's 2009 Arnold Ross Lecture event, which is hosted annually by the American Mathematical Society for skilled high school math students."

A Good Sign, by Angela Saini
Science, 24 July 2009

This article is about some new mathematical symbols created by Microsoft senior researcher Byron Cook and artist Tauba Auerbach. On the creation of new notation, Patrick Ion, associate editor of Mathematical Reviews, says, "Historically, the abbreviation of complex texts has allowed some problems to be solved that were otherwise intractable... The introduction many centuries ago, of say, zero, or the equals sign, are thought to be turning points."

Complex Math, Simple Sum: 3 Awards in 5 Years, by Lisa W. Foderaro
The New York Times, 1 June 2009

This is about the three Abel Prize winners since 2005--Peter Lax (2005), Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan (2007) and Mikhail Gromov (2009)--who are on the faculty at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. AMS Executive Director Don McClure says, "It really is phenomenal... [The Abel Prize] has the same distinction as a Nobel Prize, and there's no institution in the United States or in the world that has had such a concentration of these awards."

The success story of one student, who never met a subject he didn't like, by Abby Fox
The East Greenwich Pendulum, 8 April 2009
A Who Wants to Be a Mathematician contestant is profiled.

Xiaotian (Dennis) Wu won US$1000 playing the AMS contest, and says, "I owe a lot to studying a lot of math and having an interest in it. ... You naturally get better if you love something." In addition to being good in math, Wu is a classical pianist--and president of the state Chopin Club--and is active in theater and sports.

Professor elected VP of math society
The Berkshire Eagle, 22 January 2009
Frank Morgan, Webster Atwell '21 Professor of Mathematics at Williams College, begins a three-year term as AMS vice president in February.

On the mathematics most people are exposed to in school, Morgan says, "You learn arithmetic; that's not really mathematics. And, you're put in a situation where over time you are bound to have an experience in math class that makes you feel stupid; it's almost like in [A] Clockwork Orange, teaching someone to hate music. That's not how it's supposed to be at all. Math is supposed to be fun, like a game."

Mathematician Solves Nagging Problem After 30 Years of Work, by Shannon McAleenan
All Headline News, 19 October 2008

"At the American Mathematical Society meeting next weekend, Morales will present his findings at his home school, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he now works as a professor."

On the Job: Math mavens seek solutions, by Karen Maserjian Shan
Poughkeepsie Journal, 5 February 2008
AMS Public Awareness Officer Mike Breen and SUNY New Paltz math chair David Hobby explain the many things mathematicians do, from encryption to movie animation.

"'You have to think of new things and to think of new things you have to have a creative mind,'" Breen said. 'The great mathematicians - their brains are like the great artists. They see things that other people don't see.'"

A Mathematical Gem, in the Random Samples Column edited by Constance Holden
Science, 18 January 2008
A summary of "Crystals That Nature Might Miss Creating," by Toshikazu Sunada, published in Notices of the AMS.

"Diamond and the other structure, which he dubs K₄, are the only ones that possess both of two key symmetries, Sunada reports in the February issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society." 

Budget blow to US science, by Eric Hand
Nature, 3 January 2008
AMS Washington DC Office Director Samuel Rankin is quoted regarding the "mammoth $555-billion spending bill passed by Congress on 19 December [in which] funding for basic science took a beating. Gone are plans to double funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Science of the Department of Energy."

'"It's dead in this budget," says Samuel Rankin, Washington DC office director for the American Mathematical Society and chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding. "Hopefully we can resurrect that feeling again next year.'"

Educators divided by fractions debate, by Maureen Milford
The News Journal, 26 December 2007
Dennis DeTurck, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, has called for the end of teaching fractions and many elementary skills to most students. AMS President-Elect George Andrews disagrees.

"'Arithmetic is the basic skill. If children do not know arithmetic, they can't go on to algebra, which leads to calculus. From there you go on to other things,' Andrews said. 'It's fine to talk about it, but this is not a good pedagogy.'"

At Issue with Bill Merens, by Bill Merens
Wisconsin Public Radio , 9 August 2007
In this show, William McCallum, chair of the AMS Committee on Education and mathematician at the University of Arizona, talks about the America COMPETES Act, and its effect on research and education.

"Teaching is difficult. Mathematics is difficult. So teaching mathematics is especially difficult. It's something that you need to put a lot of effort into, figuring out how to do it right, and supporting people doing it."

A Fair Slice, by J.J. Rehmeyer
Science News , 16 December 2006
The magazine cites and summarizes "Better Ways to Cut a Cake", by Steven J. Brams, Michael A. Jones, and Christian Klamler in Notices of the AMS.

"In the December Notices of the American Mathematical Society, the team reports a new method of cake cutting that ensures the [fair] result..."

Largest US math group quietly calculates in Providence
The Providence Phoenix , 1 March 2006
A writer for the local news weekly visited the headquarters and talked with the Public Awareness Officers to learn what the AMS does.

"... In addition to providing services to its 30,000 members, the society aims to increase math awareness..."

UI math department honored
Iowa City Press-Citizen , 20 December 2005
An article about AMS recognition of the University of Iowa's Department of Mathematics for its work with underrepresented groups.

"The American Mathematical Society has honored the University of Iowa for awarding more math doctorates to minorities than any other math department in the nation."

BCS Schemers Are Looking Out for No. 1
The Washington Post , 10 December 2005
The author strongly disagrees with the Bowl Championship Series system and writes that the system's rankings are no better than those based on random walks, part of an article in the October 2004 issue of Notices of the AMS.

"Callaghan, Mucha and Porter have studied the BCS against their monkeys [random walks] for three seasons now, and their paper on the subject, called 'The BCS -- A Mathematical Review' was published in Notices of the American Mathematical Society last fall. It's worthwhile reading."

Tube Route
Science , 18 November 2005
This short article describes results from an article in the October issue of the Notices of the AMS.

"The math behind the Genesis trajectory is described in last month's Notices of the American Mathematical Society. " ["Ground Control to Niels Bohr: Exploring Outer Space with Atomic Physics" by Mason A. Porter and Predrag Cvitanovic]

US budget yields scant research rises, by Geoff Brumfiel and Tony Reichhard
Nature , 17 November 2005
Samuel Rankin, director of the AMS Washington D.C. office, is quoted on the increased federal budget proposed for the National Science Foundation for 2006.

"Given the tight fiscal environment, this was a reasonable achievement, says, Samuel Rankin, who chairs a lobby group, the Coalition for National Science Funding. 'Under the circumstances, I'm quite pleased,' he says."

Data-Point: Steady strides
Science , 15 July 2005
This article in the Random Samples/People section notes the record number of women in the U.S. who received mathematics doctorates in 2003-04.

"The all-time high of 333 doctorates awarded to women in 2003-04 represents one-third of the U.S. total (including citizens and non-citizens), according to a study appearing in the August issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. That's up from 18% in 1980."

Leonid Khachiyan, 52; Computer Science Expert at Rutgers, Times Wire Reports
The Los Angeles Times , 5 May 2005
The obituary notes that Khachiyan was awarded the Delbert Ray Fulkerson Prize [for "A polynomial algorithm in linear programming," Akademiia Nauk SSSR. Doklady 244 (1979), 1093-1096].

"In 1982, Khachiyan was awarded the Fulkerson Prize from the Mathematical Programming Society and the American Mathematical Society."

A hoop dream? Picking all 64, by Dennis O'Brien
Baltimore Sun, 18 March 2005
An article about choosing winners in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament quotes AMS Public Awareness Officer Mike Breen on the unpredictability of the tournament.

'If it all went according to a predictable form, the TV networks wouldn't sell many commercials.'

Pi Day, by Aline Mendelsohn
Orlando Sentinel, 14 March 2005
The article contains descriptions of activities organized by teachers and schools to celebrate the day (and the constant). Also included are the lyrics to the chorus of "The Pi Song," written by AMS Public Awareness Officer Mike Breen (sung to the tune of the chorus to "American Pie" ).

"Pi, Pi it's the contant to try.
Multiply by the diameter and then you'll see why
This number's as eternal as the desert is dry,
And today's the day we celebrate Pi."

Mathematics and Biology: New Challenges for Both Disciplines, by Lynn Arthur Steen
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4 March 2005
This article about reshaping undergraduate mathematics in light of the new quantitative demands of biology, quotes AMS Executive Director John Ewing.

"As John H. Ewing, executive director of the American Mathematical Society, has noted, biology is 'the next big thing in mathematics.'"

Freudian quips, by Phillip Ball
news@nature.com, 4 February 2005
The article covers "Foolproof: A Sampling of Mathematical Folk Humor," by Paul Renteln and Alan Dundes, published in Notices of the AMS. The reference in "Freudian quips" as below lists the year incorrectly; the article was published in the January 2005 issue of the Notices.

Renteln P. & Dundes A. Not. Am. Soc. 52, 24-34 (2004).

Letter to the Editor
San Francisco Chronicle, 24 January 2005
AMS President David Eisenbud and President-elect James G. Arthur respond to Lawrence Summers' Comments on Women in Math and Science.

"The speculations by Lawrence Summers at a conference on Jan. 14 about the causes of the current shortage of women in science were inappropriate. His high position at Harvard places on him a high burden of responsibility. His remarks may be damaging and counterproductive to a cause he and all educators should support. We who strive to make our subject areas attractive and accessible to all express our dismay at such remarks."

Poppy Seed Bagel Math, an interview with Ed Saff, Vanderbilt University
NPR Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, 11 December 2004
An interview with Saff provides a brief overview of the problem and potential applications described in "Discretizing Manifolds via Minimum Energy Points," by D.P. Hardin and E.B. Saff. The NPR host points listeners to read Saff's "22-page article in the November [2004] issue of Notices of the American Mathematical Society . "

What do mathematicians do?, Magazines and Journals section
The Chronicle of Higher Education , 19 October 2004
The online edition of the journal features a summary of "Some of what mathematicians do," by Martin H. Krieger, published in the November 2004 issue of The Notices of the AMS.

"The article is available for download at http://www.ams.org/notices/200410/comm-krieger.pdf. "

Open Access to Journals Won't Lower Prices, by John Ewing
The Chronicle of Higher Education , 1 October 2004
AMS Executive Director John Ewing acknowledges the high cost of journals, especially commercial journals, but says that open access to all journals is not a solution to the problem.

"... as access has increased during the past decade, journal prices have continued to escalate. In spite of that deepening crisis, we now focus on access. We must turn back to the issue of prices. Do we need to destroy our publishing system to find a solution? Perhaps. But the argument that an open-access, author-pay model would solve the problem of prices is tenuous at best. Such a revolutionary restructuring of journals goes against Occam's razor, the idea that the most effective solutions are usually the simplest ones."

Play it again, John, a review by Karl Sigmund
Nature , 30 September 2004
This review of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior: Sixtieth-Anniversary Edition, by John von Neumann & Oskar Morgenstern, cites a review published by the AMS of the original edition.

"'Posterity may regard this book as one of the major scientific achievements of the first half of the twentieth century.' So began a 1945 review of this book in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. "

Caught in a Squeeze Between Tax Cuts and Military Spending, by Jeffrey Mervis
Science , 30 July 2004
Sam Rankin, Director of the AMS office in Washington, D.C., is quoted regarding proposed cuts in the 2005 budget for NSF and NASA. Funding for both agencies is part of a bill that includes funding for the Veterans Administration (VA). Gains for NSF and NASA are not likely to happen at the expense of the VA.

"'We can't compete with the veterans,' says Sam Rankin, chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding and a lobbyist for the American Mathematical Society."

Gee whiz: Young math stars compete for big cash prize, by Thomas Lake
The Salem News, Online Edition , 30 April 2004
Coverage of the AMS's 'Who Wants To Be A Mathematician' game held in Danvers, MA, on April 29, 2004. Student Arthur Drehman of Chelmsford, MA, won the $2,000 Grand Prize donated by the AMS.

"The [AMS's] game show visited the North Shore for the first time yesterday, giving eight of the region's sharpest number-crunchers a chance to show off before teachers, fans and parents in the auditorium at Danvers High School. Drehman, a senior at Chelmsford High School, scored 800 on the math portion of the SAT and answered all 10 questions. He read several books on the history of mathematics to prepare for the contest and he's going to study math at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif."

Fun challenge for math whizzes, calculated risk for the rest, by Bryan Rourke
The Providence Journal , 29 April 2004
Coverage of the AMS's 'Who Wants To Be A Mathematician' game held at Providence College on April 28, 2004.

"Yes, this is mathematics as a spectator sport. The contest, now in its fourth consecutive year, culminates Math Awareness Month. No one's more aware of this than the Providence-based American Mathematical Society, which has a thing for celebrating the cerebral. 'We like to reward these students,' Breen says. "They may be doing their homework alone doing well, but they're the only ones who know that. They're not performing in front of a big crowd at an athletic contest.'"

Math minds to convene for conference at Rider, by Gregg A. Bernhardt
nj.com, 17 April 2004
A news release about the AMS section meeting at Rider University.

"More than 300 mathematicians from 35 states and 15 countries will gather today at Rider University for the 2004 Eastern Section meeting of the American Mathematical Society. The organization will meet to engage in intense mathematical research and hear noted mathematicians from across the country present their theories and academic papers on 18 different topics."

What's the domain of function given by f(x) = sec(cos x)?, by Doug Erickson
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison.com) , 16 April 2004
Coverage of the AMS's 'Who Wants To Be A Mathematician' game held at Madison Area Technical College on April 16, 2004.

"The sponsors, including MATC and the American Mathematical Society, gave away $6,000 in cash and thousands more in prizes during the hour-long session... The goal was to have fun, promote math and reward smart students."

Mathematicians Honored for 'Index Theorem' Concept, by David Perlman
The San Francisco Chronicle , 26 March 2004
The article about the announcement of the 2004 Abel Prize winners (Sir Michael Atiyah and Isadore M. Singer) quotes David Eisenbud (President of the American Mathematical Society and Director of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California).

"One of the most remarkable developments in my scientific lifetime has been the new fields of interaction between physics and mathematics, and these two men have been responsible for a major part of that development."

March Mathness: fun facts on college basketball from the world of numbers
Inside Science News Service, 18 March 2004
AMS Public Awareness Office Mike Breen is quoted in the news release

"According to Mike Breen of the American Mathematical Society in Providence, RI, the single-elimination nature of the tournament means that there is one game for every losing team--something known as the 'one-to-one correspondence' in math..."

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me..., by Byron Spice
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , 22 December 2003
AMS Public Awareness officer Mike Breen is quoted in this nicely illustrated article on the mathematical aspects of the traditional song --"how many gifts?", triangular numbers, Pascal's Triangle, and a holiday trick using Pascal's Triangle.

"Analyzing 'Twelve Days' is something of an old chestnut among some math educators, who use the song to discuss mathematical principles and history, said Mike Breen, a spokesman for the American Mathematical Society."

In the Shadow of War, by Geoff Brumfiel
Nature , 18/25 December 2003
This article in the 2003 in Context section quotes Sam Rankin, Director of the AMS office in Washington D.C., on the impact the war in Iraq may have on funding science in the U.S.

"Looking to the future, US science advocates are worried about the knock-on effects of the money being spent on the occupation and rebuilding of Iraq. 'Spending on the war has to have some impact,' says Sam Rankin, who heads the Coalition for National Science Funding, a lobby group in Washington DC. 'We are going to have to work pretty hard.'"

National Science Foundation facing budget let-down, by Geoff Brumfiel
Nature , 11 December 2003
Sam Rankin, Director of the AMS office in Washington D.C. is quoted regarding the possibility that a new bill may give the NSF far less funding than was recommended in a law passed one year ago.

"'Those of us who had worked on the authorizing bill would have liked to see at least a double-digit increase,' says Samuel Rankin, chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding, one of the original advocates of the 2002 legislation."

'Open access' will not be open to everyone, by John Ewing
Nature , 9 October 2003
A letter from AMS Executive Director John Ewing regarding the Public Library of Science (PLoS)

In the letter, Ewing points out flaws in the PLoS open-access plan, which includes charges for authors for publication. He concludes his letter with the following paragraph: "Each publication model — subscription-based or author-supported — has trade-offs, but they are not symmetric trade-offs. When a scientist doesn't have a subscription, he or she can nonetheless get information about the article (the abstract and perhaps a list of references); requesting a copy of the article can be as easy as sending an e-mail. When a scientist doesn't have the funds to publish an article, the article does not appear — does not become part of the permanent literature. That's more than an inconvenience."

The Importance of Not Thinking Too Much, by John Derbyshire
National Review Online , 1 August 2003
In the course of an article on "foundational crises" the author refers to a book review in The Notices of the AMS .

"I happened to read the August 2003 Notices of the American Mathematical Society . That excellent journal has a review, by math professor Michael Harris, of a book titled Mathematics and the Roots of Postmodern Thought, by Serbian-Canadian mathematician-philosopher-novelist Vladimir Tasic. Harris opens his review with an anecdote... Over a restaurant dinner, three professional mathematicians resurrected an issue from the great "crisis of foundations" that racked mathematics in the early 20th century--during roughly the period from Russell's paradox (1901) to Gödel's theorem (1931)..."

Who's Hiring in Mathematics?, Jennifer Jacobson
The Chronicle of Higher Education , 24 July 2003
The author notes that the AMS collects data on hiring faculty, and quotes Jim Maxwell, AMS Associate Executive Director, on the reasons for the slow-down in hiring tenured faculty.

"Although the American Mathematical Society has yet to collect data on hiring for the 2002-3 academic year, its job statistics for the previous two academic years show a slowdown in hiring...[Maxwell] expects another 8- to 10-percent drop in hiring, a decline he attributes to a weak economy and not to a lack of retirements. 'Three percent of the total full-time faculty in math departments are retiring every year,' he says. 'Fifteen years ago it was just under two percent.'"

Free Journal Finder, Mitch Leslie
Science , 30 May 2003
The magazine's Netwatch column notes a new online directory that covers the Bulletin of the AMS, among 350 online journals.

"The Directory of Open Access Journals from Lund University in Sweden makes it easier to find [online journals that supply free, full-text articles]. Scientific journals include Stem Cells, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, and Conservation Ecology. "

American Mathematical Society Recognizes 2 Scholars, Kellie Maxwell Bartlett
The Chronicle of Higher Education , 1 May 2003
The Chronicle picked up the AMS news release about the 2003-2004 Centennial Fellows.

"The American Mathematical Society has awarded Centennial Fellowships to two outstanding mathematicians to help them continue their research. Henry H. Kim, of the University of Toronto, and John E. Meier, of Lafayette College, are the recipients of this year's awards."

Counting on creativity: math lovers draw on art to reveal beauty in numbers, Bryan Rourke
The Providence Journal , 10 April 2003
In conjunction with the Mathematics Awareness Month theme of 'Mathematics & Art' the local writer solicits insights on the subject and provides a profile of the Society headquartered in Rhode Island.

[AMS Public Awareness Officer Mike Breen is quoted:] "Our mission is to inform people about the beauty and usefulness of math." . .. "There is a connection between math and art at many levels," says AMS member Joe Malkevitch, a mathematics professor at York College in New York. "Math is a rich fabric of ideas; it's a human creation, just as art is.". .. Math requires imagination to come up with concepts and formulas, which, says AMS spokesman Mike Breen, can then be expressed through "an elegant proof.". .. Beyond practical applications, math classes for liberal arts students "show how math interfaces with art, music and animated films. I'm trying to connect other things to mathematics," says AMS member Joe Gallian, a professor of mathematics at the University of Minnesota Duluth. "

NSF Is Not Yet Seeing Double, Jeffrey Mervis
Science , 7 February 2003
Samuel Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office, is not pleased with the President's proposed federal budget for the NSF in 2004.

"Although [NSF Director] Colwell spoke glowingly about a 9% increase as a sign of Bush's "tremendous support for the NSF and its mission," some in the audience took away a more somber message. 'I see a 4% increase,' says the American Mathematical Society's Samuel Rankin, head of the Coalition for National Science Funding, which pushed for a law enacted last fall that endorses--but does not fund--15% annual boosts for NSF toward a doubling in 5 years. 'Looks like we'll have to take our case to Congress.'"

US societies unite in plea for boost to research budgets, Geoff Brumfiel
Nature , 9 January 2003
Samuel Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office, is also the current chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding (a group of over 90 scientific organizations and academic institutions working to support federal funding of the National Science Foundation).

"Given the uncertainty of the year ahead [the state of the U.S. economy and possibility of war], 'people have yet to believe that the administration is committed to increasing science funding', says Samuel Rankin, head of government relations at the American Mathematical Society. 'It's sort of like "the cheque's [sic] in the mail".'"

New Senate Leader no Stranger to Science Policy, David Malakoff
Science , 3 January 2003
Samuel Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office, is quoted regarding Bill Frist, the new U.S. Senate Majority Leader.

"He understands science and knows that the agencies that support research are important."

Erasing divide that keeps many from grasping numbers, Laura Pappano
The Boston Globe , 8 December 2002
Mike Breen, AMS Public Awareness Officer, confirms that students who have experienced an unpleasant introduction to math during their early years in school are not likely to be interested in continued studies in the subject.

"It is an uphill battle to win fans for math. There are many people to have a bad memory. If you say the word 'math,' they get turned off."

Congress backs historic expansion of NSF, Geoff Brumfiel
Nature, 21 November 2002
Samuel Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington D.C. office and chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding, is quoted regarding the U.S. Congressional recommendation to to double the budget of the NSF.

"Symbolically, this says there's bipartisan support for the NSF." The NSF Authorization Act also directs the NSF to prioritize its large infrastructure projects, which at present await funding but are not assigned any priority. "This situation is frustrating to project advocates in Congress, as well as researchers, says Rankin."

Words but no cash for US agencies
Nature, 17 October 2002
Samuel Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office, is quoted on the proposed increase in the NSF budget.

"All of us are pleased with the House's recommendation," says Samuel Rankin, chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding, which advocates doubling NSF funding over five years. "But it won't mean anything if there isn't a budget."

The Short List: the Next Big Thing--The Cutting Edge in Geography, Math, Information Technologies, Criticism...
The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 20, 2002
John Ewing, Executive Director of the AMS, comments on the next big thing in mathematics

In the section on mathematics, AMS Executive Director John Ewing says the next big thing in mathematics is biology. "As biologists discovered the value of mathematics for decoding the genome, mathematicians in turn rediscovered that some of the most interesting parts of their subject have roots in the real world." However, he states that pure mathematics will certainly not wane: "Mathematics has always had its roots in applications, but the ensuing research quickly outpaced those roots. Research in pure mathematics sometimes finds application 25 or 50 years in the future…More and more, mathematicians will see their subject underlying all science and social science—not as a humble servant but as an essential companion."

Bush urged to boost funding for physical sciences, Geoff Brumfiel
Nature, 5 September 2002
Sam Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office, is quoted

Funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health has doubled in the last five years. In light of this increase, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has called for President Bush to increase funding "in such fields as physics and engineering," but specific fields, for example mathematics, are not mentioned. Some feel that the unmentioned fields are "implicitly included," but Rankin says, 'I'm a little concerned about the way they worded this letter.'

Who's been looking at your data?, Declan Butler
Nature, 8 August 2002
AMS Treasurer John Franks quoted in an article about computer network security

Regarding computer hacking, Franks said, 'The biggest and most widespread security threats have come from two or three Microsoft products, primarily Outlook and the Microsoft IIS web server, but also Internet Explorer.' Butler also writes that Franks, a professor at Northwestern University, "favors the use of products such as the Linux operating system , in which the source code is open for anyone to scrutinize, increasing the chance that security vulnerabilities will be spotted and made public."

Seminal maths manuscript unearthed, John Whitfield
Nature Science Update, 6 August 2002
AMS Executive Director John Ewing quoted regarding Niels Abel

This online article appeared one day after the 200th anniversary of the birth of Norwegian mathematician Niels Abel. Earlier in 2002, Andrea Del Centina found eight pages of Abel's original manuscripts, but it turned out that four of the pages were in someone else's handwriting. Regarding the way Abel united different areas of mathematics in his most famous work, Ewing said, 'He brought together geometry, algebra and calculus - it's amazing how much flowed from that idea.'

NSF Gets Big Lift; Pluto Mission Backed, Jeffrey Mervis
Science, 2 August 2002
Sam Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington, D.C. office is quoted regarding funding for NSF

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a 12% increase in funding for the National Science Foundation in 2003, which is more than twice the increase proposed by President Bush. Sam Rankin, Director of the AMS Washington Office and chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding (an alliance of over 90 scientific and professional societies, and universities) says, 'this is definitely a positive signal.'

Number of Math Majors Is Down Sharply, Report Says, Thomas Bartlett
Today's News of The Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 July 2002
Highlights of CBMS Survey

The article presents some results from the recent Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) survey, Statistical Abstract of Undergraduate Programs in the Mathematical Sciences in the United States. In addition to the drop in majors (the headline refers to majors labeled precisely "mathematics"), enrollment in mathematics courses was essentially the same as in 1990, despite an increase in overall college course enrollment. James Maxwell, Director of AMS Meetings and Professional Services, who co-authored the report with David Lutzer and Stephen Rodi, is quoted: 'This has to be troublesome to the members of the profession,... It's not positive particularly when there are tremendous job opportunities for students who are well-trained at the bachelor's level in mathematics.' The article is available online to Chronicle subscribers, and the full CBMS report is available to all here

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The Public Awareness Office urges AMS members and others to notify us when they see the AMS mentioned in their local newspapers, university bulletins, or in science journals. Send email to: paoffice@ams.org.

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